Pak court summons ex-PM, orders arrest of journalist

ISLAMABAD, Sept 25 (Al Jazeera): A Pakistani court has summoned former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appear before it over a treason case, while issuing arrest warrants for a prominent journalist who interviewed the former premier, according to a court order.

The Lahore High Court on Monday summoned Sharif to appear for the next hearing on October 8, in a case relating to an interview with prominent journalist Cyril Almeida.

In the interview, published in May, PML-N party chief Sharif implied that Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence services had allowed attackers involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 160 people, to operate with impunity.

"Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can't we complete the trial?" he said in that interview, published in Dawn, Pakistan's most respected daily newspaper.

The remarks prompted a crisis in an already embattled relationship between the then ruling PML-N government and the military, which has ruled Pakistan for roughly half of its 71-year history. Sharif was dismissed from his post as prime minister by the Supreme Court in July last year.

He was arrested in July this year on corruption charges, but released last week pending the completion of the appeals process.

In May, petitioner Amina Malik moved the Lahore High Court to try Sharif and former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for "high treason", alleging that Abbasi had leaked classified details from a National Security Committee meeting held after the publication of the interview. Almeida was also included in the list of defendants.